JC.130 The Department of Interior Appropriations Act for FY 1957 included funds for the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Capital Regional Planning Council to conduct a joint "survey of the present and future mass transportation needs of the National Capital region" (70 Stat. 271). As the survey proceeded, those involved became convinced that a more wide-ranging and comprehensive study was required. Accordingly, a joint Congressional committee was established to study the problems created by growth in the greater District of Columbia region and to make recommendations regarding them. Members of the committee were drawn from the
House and
Senate Committees on the District of Columbia.

JC.131 The committee's work proceeded in two phases. During the first phase, until January 1959, the committee studied and prepared staff reports on the region's water supply, pollution, economic development, park areas, and governmental organization. Transportation problems were not a special focus of the committee during the first phase because the mass transportation survey was not yet completed. The second phase, beginning in November 1959, concentrated on transportation issues and resulted in the National Capital Transportation Act (Public Law 86-669).

JC.132 The only records of the committee are two volumes
of transcripts of committee meetings held in executive session. These cover
the entire life of the committee, dating from October 30, 1957, to August 23,
1960.

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed
since 1989.

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to the Records of the United States Senate at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-42) by Robert W. Coren, Mary Rephlo, David Kepley, and Charles South (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989), and Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-245) by Charles E. Schamel, Mary Rephlo, Rodney Ross, David Kepley, Robert W. Coren, and James Gregory Bradsher (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989).